Factory Kids
by AngelGirl569
Summary: It's been years since she saw him. Since she saw any of them. Everything she learns only makes her more dedicated to help. It's time to help. It's time to fight.


**Something in me loves the idea of Sissi walking into the factory, seeing the Lyoko warriors hovering in the rafters, on old boxes, leaning against rusted beams, and just looking so rough and terrifying. The idea that the war continues, and just gets worse. The trauma endured, and just how dark it could get. The group was increasingly isolated during the series' run, it only makes sense that the isolation would worsen with time. Seeing the results from Sissi's eyes, from the eyes of the person who wanted most to be included...truly haunting.**

* * *

He wasn't dead, she could feel his breath on the back of her hand. Sissi shuddered at the sight of the blood but continued her work despite the increasing nausea she felt. She wondered what another person would have done in her place. Finding a man bleeding out in an alleyway. She hoped that person would stop to help the man, but she knew that wasn't the case for many in this city.

"Come on," she muttered while tying her jacket tighter around the man's bleeding arm. "Don't die, please."

The man stirred. His face was encrusted in blood on one side and swelling rapidly. The grey sweatshirt he wore obscured most of his body and head from view, but the growing bloodstain on his sleeve had alerted Sissi to his distress. The man blinked and gave a slight shudder.

"Where am I." It was a statement, not a question. His voice was cold and low, cautious.

Sissi tried not to stutter despite her panic. "Oh, you're awake! Okay, um, well, uh, you're in an alley off of Spring Street, near Fourth Avenue. It looks like you got stabbed in the arm? I called the paramedics already but they said to keep pressure on the wound so I tied my jacket on your…yeah."

The man lurched to sit upwards. "I can't…cops. No cops."

"Well, they're just paramedics. Not cops," she tried to not let the panic in her voice show. "So um, please, lie down. I don't think you should be moving…"

"They can't find me." His eyes darted left and right. "Need to hide."

She paused. "Are…are you a criminal or something?"

"No, but they think I am." The man looked up at her. "Please, you have to hide me."

"What?!" She bristled. "I…I don't even know you!"

"My name is Ulrich."

He gazed at her coolly, waiting for her next move. Sissi froze, a memory flashing to her mind of a green eyed boy who used to give her that exact same look. The same eyes she was looking into now. She slowly reached for his hood and slid it back to reveal messy brown hair that matched the boy in her mind perfectly.

"Ulrich Stern? From Kadic Academy?" her voice trembled slightly.

He blinked. "How did you know that?"

"Sissi Delmas…remember?"

Ulrich stared at her in slow recognition. "Shit. I didn't even…fuck."

"Yeah."

The sounds of approaching sirens interrupted the silence. Ulrich looked down at his bleeding arm and then turned back to Sissi. "Look, can you hide me or should I start running now?"

Sissi nodded. "My apartment is just down the street. Here, lean on me." She helped him to his feet and they took off at as quick a pace as they could muster with his form leaning on her shoulder. Sissi tried to ignore the sticky dampness of his blood staining her skin. They stumbled into her apartment building as quietly as possible, rushing to the stairs before any nosy neighbors could see the blood soaked man she carried with her. A building like this didn't have an elevator, and Sissi cursed her past self for not fighting harder for that second floor apartment she had wanted so badly. But those thoughts were gone as soon as they got through her front door.

Ulrich was propped up in a kitchen chair with a towel under his arm to catch the blood. Sissi rushed to fill a bowl with water, silently cursing the low water pressure in her apartment.

"Here," she murmured as she sat down beside him. "Can you take your sweatshirt off? I can get some scissors if you can't…" her voice trailed off as Ulrich silently moved to get the sweatshirt off, his jaw clenched with the pain of moving his arm. Once the garment was off and she could see the wound, Sissi's face blanched on sight. The arm was soaked in blood, but the actual wound wasn't too large, just a single wide gash going down the length of his bicep. She began alternating between dipping the rag in the water, wiping his arm, then soaking the rag again.

"So," she said conversationally, attempting to ignore the quickly reddening water before her. "What have you been up to these last few years?"

He paused. "Not much. What about you?"

"Um…not much." Sissi could feel her cheeks redden. Having to admit her current lot in life was not something she enjoyed, especially not admitting it to someone who had known her before this chapter of her life had begun. "Are you going to tell me how you got injured?"

Ulrich stared at the wall across the room. "An accident."

"Ulrich." She stopped wiping down his arm and forced him to look at her. "Whatever happened, I'm not going to tell anyone. You can trust me."

He stared at her for a long moment. She knew that look. It was the face he made whenever he was trying to make an important decision. Finally, he let out a breath and looked down at the table where his bloody arm lay. "I'll tell you, if you tell me about your life these last couple years."

Sissi nodded. "That's fair." She wrung out the rag in the bowl and resumed gently cleaning his arm. "Well, you last saw me at graduation…when I didn't graduate. I got held back a year, and it was just miserable. I didn't have any friends, that year was spent just studying, working in a clothing store after school, and preparing for university. I went off to a university in Paris, I wanted to get into fashion marketing after school. But then part way through my first semester there, my dad got sick. Cancer. I moved back to take care of him, and then took a semester off, and then…he died."

Ulrich shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sissi."

She forced a small, teary smile. "Thanks. I tried to go back to school after that, but I just couldn't do it. Looking back, I was probably just really depressed. I didn't see the point of going to school, of working towards the dreams I had held for so long. I was still really isolated, I didn't have any friends…so I dropped out and moved back home again. I got a job at a café, and started renting this apartment…I keep planning on taking night classes in…something, I don't know what, but I had to get a second job last month and there's just no time. But I'm maintaining, I get the rent in on time and have enough left over to live in reasonable comfort. All the working, it keeps me busy."

"And what about friends?" Ulrich asked quietly.

"Um…" another awkward smile. "There's a couple girls I work with at the café who are nice, we've gotten lunch a couple times but I can't really afford to go out with them very much. Most people my age are in school so they just live really different lives from me…but it's okay, I see people."

Ulrich nodded slowly. "I understand."

She nodded and began rubbing ointment onto his arm. "This might feel gross but it'll help keep the wound clean." Once the ointment was on she started wrapping his arm in gauze. "Now – how did you get hurt?"

The room was silent as Ulrich contemplated his next move. Sissi could remember him doing this frequently when she knew him, just sitting and thinking before acting. It had always been a trait she admired in him. Finally, Ulrich appeared to reach a decision. "Do you remember XANA?"

Sissi blinked. "What?"

"XANA." Ulrich leaned in and furrowed his brow. "I need you to really think. XANA. Computer viruses, technology coming to life. Any of this ringing a bell?"

Fuzzy memories came to her memory, a distant sense of familiarity with that name. "Yeah, yeah a bit," she murmured. "What does that mean?"

"XANA is an artificial intelligence that my friends and I have been fighting since we were kids. Remember how we would always disappear at random times? That was us going to fight XANA. He would attack us by hacking into local computer systems, or making technology come to life in an attempt to kill us. We've been battling him for the last decade, but he's only been getting stronger. Today he brought one of his monsters to Earth and I couldn't get away fast enough, and the thing took a swipe at me that I couldn't avoid." He let out a sigh, having run out of breath a long time ago. "Any questions?"

Sissi couldn't quite find the words. "What does this…how do you…"

"There's this place called Lyoko," Ulrich explained. "It's a virtual world in the computer. And we can virtualize ourselves into the computer, into Lyoko, to fight XANA and his monsters. The old factory, that's where the supercomputer is. And that's also where we've been living the last few years."

"Wait, you live in that old factory?" Sissi exclaimed. "Why? And this fight…this monster…why not go to the police, the army?"

"We've tried that before and it didn't work." Ulrich glared down at the table. "See, we can reset time if we need to, go back in time to before a XANA attack so nothing has changed in the world. On a few different occasions we've reached out to the military or government for help and it always went badly for us. As for why we live in the factory…the attacks have only been getting worse over the years. When we started, it was one or two a month. Now, it's pretty much every day. Our lives have been taken over by this fight. We can't go to school, or maintain steady jobs. So we live at the factory. We take odd jobs here and there to make some cash, or Jeremy does a bit of hacking for us. But otherwise it's just us squatting in an abandoned factory and trying our hardest to win this fight."

Sissi shook her head. "I believe you, it's just…this is nothing like I ever imagined. What about the others? Who's involved?"

He paused to think. "Well there's Jeremy, obviously. And Aelita. She was actually trapped in the computer before we knew her, Jeremy figured out how to free her. Odd is there too, and Yumi. William lives with us as well."

"Wow…" Sissi gazed at him in wonder. "Your life sounds so…exciting. Like I know it's super dangerous and wild but you're living with friends, having adventures, doing something really important to the world…I wish I could do something like that."

An idea seemed to come to him, and he looked at her sharply. "Maybe you can."

She smiled. "Really? I could join you?"

"Maybe. If the group agrees. I'll take you by tomorrow and propose the idea. But are you sure you can just drop everything and go like that?"

Sissi smirked. "Ulrich, my life right now is nothing. I'm scraping by barely affording to live a somewhat comfortable life. I would rather fight for my life in hopes of saving the world alongside friends than spend another day scraping coffee grinds to hopefully make enough to pay my electric bill."

He nodded and smiled. "Fair point. We'll go tomorrow."

Sissi glanced up at the clock. "It's gotten pretty late…why don't you crash on the couch? It's probably not good for you to try and move a lot with your arm like that."

Ulrich paused, then nodded. "Sounds good. I'll text the others and let them know I'm safe." He pulled out an old flip phone and began to type a message.

"How ancient is that thing?" Sissi joked, examining the thick black plastic and the small antenna on it.

"It's a burner phone Jeremy upgraded," Ulrich said. "Our phones are connected with a bit of programming so every text we send automatically goes to all. And it's untraceable, and uses a signal that Jeremy has set up to go from the factory roof so we don't have to get an actual cell phone plan."

"Wow." Sissi nodded in approval and crossed her arms. "You've really thought out every aspect of this, haven't you? Living off the grid and stuff."

"Kind of have to," Ulrich muttered as he finished his message. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep."

"Oh, okay." Taken aback by the sudden end to the conversation, Sissi quietly went to her bedroom. "Call if you need anything," she quietly called back into the living room. There was no response.

The next day, Sissi arose to find Ulrich already awake and nursing his wound at the kitchen sink with a wet rag. His hair was mussed as though he had slept, but the dark circles under his eyes seemed permanent. In the morning light, Sissi could better observe the physical changes Ulrich had gone through in the last few years. Wearing a worn grey tank top, the defined muscles in his arms and chest were exposed. But it wasn't like back in high school, when his muscles made his biceps bulge under skin that was thoroughly tanned from soccer practice. He was obviously still working out, but there was no sign of health or happiness in this body. A shadow of stubble on a jaw that seemed permanently set in a confrontational scowl. Shadows on his collar bones, and a number of unfamiliar scars. He didn't stand as straight as he used to. Like something had broken a long time ago and he still couldn't quite get it fixed.

"Your arm looks better," she commented with a forced smile, gesturing to the freshly unwrapped wound.

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah, I took off the bandages to let it air off…don't think it'll need stitches or anything."

"That's good." They stood in silence for a moment, Ulrich focused on rinsing the blood out of the rag and Sissi trying to think of something to say. "About what we talked about last night…the computer stuff…" There was no good way to ask this, she realized. But last night's conversation just seemed too surreal, like the shock of finding a former classmate bleeding out in an alley had made her hallucinate.

"We'll go to the factory today," Ulrich said decisively. "I was thinking about it last night, and even if the others aren't okay with you fighting alongside us, we could use an ally on the outside."

"An ally?" She cocked her head curiously.

Ulrich sighed. "We get by alright. But XANA has been attacking out in the open more and more recently. It makes supply runs dangerous, and I'm the best solo fighter so I get sent out the most. It would be good to have someone who could pick up the slack if no one can go. Or someone guaranteed to be safe who could help patch us up after a battle. Or even just someone to bring us a goddamn newspaper so I can feel like there's some kind of normalcy to all this."

He ran his hand through his hair in a sign of frustration before taking a breath. "I'm sorry. I just…it's hard, sometimes."

Sissi nodded slowly. "I think I understand. Whatever you need, I want to help. I want to be involved."

Ulrich nodded distractedly. "Yeah, okay. We should get going soon…"

"Breakfast first." Sissi began preparations for cooking and within minutes, Ulrich found himself sitting dumbfounded in front of a heaping plate of food. He didn't comment on the fact that Sissi had just used up half the supplies in her refrigerator on this. She could tell he was hungrier than he would ever admit.

An hour later, they began crossing the bridge that led to the factory. Sissi pulled her jacket tighter around her as a cold breeze cut through unexpectedly. Ulrich simply shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, not even shivering. The building looked a bit different than Sissi remembered it from her childhood. More windows were boarded up. Of the big garage doors, only one appeared functional. The others were weighted down, and numerous "do not enter" signs were posted. Some graffiti had been added as well.

Ulrich chuckled at her shocked expression. "Yeah, we had some fun making this place look scary enough for no one to try and get in. Come on, ladder's this way."

Standing on the platform, Sissi could see the giant main production room of the factory spread before her. Dusty boxes, a couple broken down machines…nothing out of the ordinary. Two ropes hung before her, but Ulrich directed her to the steel ladder that was roped into place and looked more secure. As soon as they were on the floor, Ulrich took off across the room. A plastic tarp had blocked a doorway from her view – they entered and moved down a dark, twisting hallway. For the first time in this adventure, Sissi felt nervous. The factory was creepy, and Ulrich was practically a stranger at this time. Why was she trusting him?

"Here we go." Another tarp, this one made of a thick, cloudy white plastic, covered a doorway that appeared to have some light behind it. Ulrich pulled the tarp back to allow Sissi entrance into what appeared to be a squatter's paradise of a living room. This part of the factory was probably designated for administrative offices at some point, as this central area appeared to have other hallways and smaller rooms leading off to the side. The walls and floors were still made up of cracked dark concrete, but the large windows that streamed in sunlight made up for the surroundings. Two broken down couches that had probably been swindled from a yard sale were arranged haphazardly, with a heavily chipped coffee table in the center. A lamp with a ripped open shade stood nearby, and a rug had been put down for comfort.

"Wow." Sissi couldn't believe how broken down the scene before her was. She knew they were squatting, but this was…this was on another level.

"Our bedrooms look better," Ulrich murmured from behind her. "More personalized. Come on, I'll show you."

They began to walk down the hallway. "Where are the others?" Sissi asked quietly.

Ulrich thought for a moment. "Downstairs, probably. Jeremy said they were going to have a meeting to decide whether you should be in or not. Even if you're not, I still say we need an ally on the outside for supplies, and you fit that perfectly."

She bit down a blush, unused to compliments at this point in her life. "Thanks."

"What the fuck, Ulrich?" A voice said from further down the hallway. Sissi squinted into the dark and made out the form of a tall, broad shouldered man.

Ulrich's voice was low and neutral in tone as he responded. "It's okay, William. She's a friend."

Sissi gasped quietly as William stepped out into the light. He was taller than she remembered, and more muscular. But it was that same lean muscle that Ulrich had, muscle gained through fighting, she supposed. His hair was shaggy and cut as though by someone with a limited knowledge of hair and a blunt pair of scissors. He wore combat boots and a pair of ripped, stained black jeans but that was it. She noted the wet hair – he had probably just come from a shower, if they even had showers here.

The scars were what struck her the most though. His bruises were fresher than Ulrich's, and he sported a large purple bruise along his hip bone that made Sissi want to wince in pain. Scars that resembled stab wounds were scattered haphazardly on his torso, at least a dozen. His arms featured a fair amount of old wounds themselves, but William had also covered a good portion of his body in tattoos. Black ink, smooth curves and soft gradients in the designs that covered his shoulders, and chest. Like built in armor for his skin.

"A friend, huh?" William observed Sissi coldly. "Look, you know we make decisions as a group, you can't just bring some random girl in here."

"She's not some random girl," Ulrich responded, and gestured to Sissi. "Sissi Delmas. Went to school with us for half our lives, and she wants to help us."

William stared at Sissi with wide eyes. "Sissi? Shit, I didn't even recognize you."

Sissi bit down the retort of "You're one to talk" and only nodded. "It's good to see you," she said quietly, forcing herself to look him in the eye. "I've heard it's been rough."

A short, harsh chuckle escaped him. "Yeah, you could say that."

Ulrich crossed his arms and began to look around, surveying the room. "Where are the others?"

"Jeremy and Aelita are downstairs, Odd is outside, and Yumi is…who knows where she ever is." William rolled his eyes and the boys shared a brief knowing smile before returning to the business at hand. "The whole group needs to be together to decide this, so let's round up Odd and Yumi and then head down to the lab."

Ulrich nodded. "Just let me grab a new shirt from my room."

For the first time, William seemed to notice the dark blood stain on Ulrich's sleeve. "Shit, what happened?"

"A crab," Ulrich responded. "Sissi found me bleeding out in an alley and hid me before the cops could come."

William nodded at Sissi in approval. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she responded quietly. They had followed Ulrich into what she assumed to be his room. A curtain of black fabric secured to the doorframe with duct tape acted as a door that Ulrich smoothly brushed aside. Sissi followed inside, expecting a room as bare and depressing as the rest of the factory, only to find herself in a well decorated living space. There were rugs on the floor, mismatched of course, but still somewhat clean and covering the majority of the dirty concrete underneath. Posters of athletes and various rock bands had been carefully taped up onto the wall. A mattress covered in blankets and pillows sat in the corner, unmade and messy. Two suitcases lay open, clothes piled up inside. A stack of books sat next to the mattress.

"Wow," Sissi murmured as she surveyed the room. It was nicer than expected, but still…the idea that her former classmates were actually living full time in this abandoned factory continued to shock her.

Ulrich quickly peeled off his sweatshirt and changed into a grey T-shirt. "Alright, let's go."

William led the pair through a maze of hallways ending with a pair of heavy double doors. The lock appeared to have been carved out with an axe, with a gaping hole where a lock would usually be. He pushed the doors open to reveal a fenced in slab of concrete that jutted out over the river, probably a loading dock at some point in the factory's history. A wiry blond boy could be seen leaning on the railing, looking out over the river and smoking a cigarette.

"Odd," William called. The man in question turned to face them, and furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who's this?" he asked, considerably calmer than William had been. "You finally find yourself a girlfriend, Will?" He cracked a grin that Sissi immediately remembered and felt a sense of relief enter her.

She cleared her throat. "It's me, Sissi. Remember?" Odd looked her up and down, whistling.

"Wow. You haven't changed a bit." He turned to Ulrich and William, raising his eyebrow questioningly. "So…what's going on here?"

"Ulrich wants to bring her in," William said bluntly. "He thinks she could be a good outside ally for supply runs, medical emergencies, those kinds of things."

Odd nodded and took a drag of his cigarette. "I'm down. Don't know how the others will react though, you know how Jeremy is."

"Aelita will probably be fine with it," Ulrich said. "And she can help convince Jeremy."

"Well, I still don't like it," William interjected. "I bet Yumi won't either."

Ulrich frowned. "Yeah, well…Odd, you done out here?"

Odd took a quick last drag and dropped the cigarette, crunching it under his foot. He turned his head to the side and blew out the rest of his smoke before nodding in response to Ulrich's question. "Yeah, let's go."

As they walked through another string of endless hallways in the factory, Sissi observed the changes in Odd's physique. He wore a purple hoodie and dark blue jeans, so she couldn't see evidence of previous wounds like she could with the other two men. His hair was shorter than it used to be but still spiked up top. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing forearms that showed the same lean muscle as the others, but not many scars. She noted two tattoos – a sun on the inside of his right wrist, and a moon on his left. It was then that she noticed Odd was missing the pinky on his left hand.

"Oh my god," she gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

The others turned back to look at her in confusion. "What is it?" Ulrich asked. They all began immediately looking around suspiciously, as though searching for an attacker.

Sissi swallowed hard and looked at Odd. "Um, I just, um…I saw your hand."

He looked down at the hand in question, turning it back and forth to inspect the stump at the end. "Yeah, that was about…what's it been, eight months now?"

Ulrich nodded somberly, staring at his hand with a look of absolute remorse. "Yeah…sounds about right."

Odd looked to Sissi with a forced smile. "Not a fun time. XANA possessed these guys and had them try and torture information out of me…I wouldn't crack though. Lost the finger, but it was worth it."

William patted Odd on the shoulder. "Good man."

"The best you'll ever see!" Odd said with a grin, posing proudly. "Anyway, let's go find Yumi."

Ulrich nodded, still somber. "Yeah, we should hurry up."

"Think she's in the practice room?" William asked, already walking ahead with Ulrich.

"Yeah, probably," he responded.

Odd fell into step with Sissi. "So what have you been up to since high school, hmm? We've kind of lost touch with everyone except our families at this point, and we don't really have the time or resources to get on Facebook." He grinned, and Sissi gave a shaky smile in response."

"Um, not much." Once again, Sissi reflected on how much she hated admitting the reality of her life. "I'm working at a café in town…college didn't really work out. I have an apartment, it's comfortable enough. Mostly just busy working."

His expression was a strange mix between sympathy and longing. "Must be nice," he said quietly.

She laughed quietly. "I wouldn't call it nice."

"Better than living in an abandoned factory and fighting for your life every other day." He looked ahead, his eyes filled with the fatigue of a man much older than him. Sissi observed him quietly. They all seemed so much older than her, like they had seen horrors she could only imagine.

She was distracted by the sound of a girl yelling. She led the boys around a corner and through another tarp-covered doorway to reveal a crudely put together gym. Dumbbells sat stacked in the corner. A punching bag hung from a chain attached to the rafters, a punching bag that was currently being attacked by Yumi Ishiyama. She yelled ferociously as she attacked the bag, her hands wrapped in protective tape. She wore a black sports bra and leggings with sneakers that had seen too much wear, the laces threatening to rip off at any moment. She was so absorbed in her exercise that she didn't even notice their entrance.

"Hey hon, can you take a break?" Ulrich called, shouting to be heard over her own yelling.

Yumi stopped and turned to the group. Her body was slimmer than Sissi remembered, muscular but threatening to be bony in some places. The way her hips jutted out a bit too far, the angles in her collarbones. Scars could be seen on her arms, primarily a large number of burn scars in particular. A few tattoos could be seen scattered on her torso, the black ink a sharp contrast to her pale skin. Her hair was shorter than before, now in a stylish pixie cut that showed a bit of feminine care despite her rough appearance. Thin locks of hair swooped down over her eyes, hair that she quickly pushed back. "What's up?"

Ulrich stepped aside to reveal Sissi standing behind him. "Sissi Delmas. She wants to help us."

She looked at Sissi critically, then turned to Ulrich. "What the fuck, Ulrich."

"I think it could help to have an ally on the outside," he reasoned. "She can do supply runs easier than the rest of us, get medical help when we're too beat up to leave…"

Yumi shook her head. "No. We can't trust her, we can't trust anyone, you know that."

"Please," Sissi said desperately. "I just want to help. I won't tell anyone what's going on, I don't even have anyone to tell, really. Just give me a chance, please."

Yumi glared at the girl. "You weren't exactly the most trustworthy person when we were younger, if I remember correctly."

"I was a little shit," Sissi said bluntly, crossing her arms defensively. "I know that. But you need help, right? Or at least could use it? Just let me in, just this once. Please." Her voice quieted at the end, her desperation showing once more.

The girls maintained eye contact for a solid minutes. Yumi pursed her lips, then sighed in resignation. "Fine. But we need to talk to the others."

"We've been saying that all along," William said tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Can we head downstairs please?"

Yumi nodded and William took off at a quick pace towards the factory entrance where Ulrich had first brought her in through. Odd gestured for Sissi to follow, letting Ulrich and Yumi walk a bit behind them. The couple spoke quietly, though Sissi could still hear them.

"Your arm…"

"It's fine. Sissi helped me, that's how we met."

"What happened?"

"A crab, what else."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"You know I get scared whenever you…"

"I know. I'm back now though."

There was a pause as the footsteps behind her stopped. Sissi glanced back to see Ulrich holding Yumi in a gentle kiss, brushing the hair away from her face. No matter how rough and beaten they appeared, their love was still obvious to any half decent observer. Sissi quickly turned away before they could catch her watching.

The elevator rattled loudly as they traveled further and further underneath the factory. Sissi looked around the enclosed box in trepidation, noting the red stains on the floor, and the strange splatter patterns on one of the walls. The others seemed calm, though she knew they were all wondering about this upcoming group meeting that would decide her fate. Ulrich kept a protective arm around Yumi, who held his hand over her shoulder absentmindedly.

Finally, the door groaned to stop. The doors opened to reveal a large room soaked in a low, green light. Sissi was immediately drawn to the bright hologram at the center, slowly spinning in place. A large computer could be seen next to it, and two figures who were turned away from the group, speaking in low tones.

"Hey, guys – what's going on?" William called.

The figures turned around quickly. Sissi immediately recognized them as Jeremy and Aelita, despite the dramatic changes in their appearance. Aelita held a laptop computer that she set aside as she turned to face the group.

"What's up?" she asked with a tight smile. Her voice was as cheerful as ever, but her eyes had a strange sort of sadness to them. A sharp contrast to the others, she wore leggings and pink shift dress, an oversized denim jacket hanging off her shoulders. Her hair was down to her chest, cut in haphazard layers. Her boots were laced tightly, and she sported a choker necklace and earrings. While the others resembled apocalypse survivors, she looked like she could be headed to the mall.

Jeremy had already spotted Sissi standing in the back. "Who is that?" he asked, a sense of panic already rising in his voice. His hair was shaggy and brushing over the edges of his thick framed glasses. He wore a blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the top buttons undone to reveal a white tank top underneath. The cargo pants he wore were reminiscent of his school days, but the combat boots he sported underneath reminded Sissi of the changes he must have endured. A tattoo wrapped around his left wrist, a strange series of symbols she didn't recognize. A few long white scars could be seen curling out from under his shirt, but she knew by now to not stare.

Ulrich gestured to Sissi for the fourth time, maintaining eye contact with Jeremy the entire time. "Sissi Delmas. Went to school with us. She found me bleeding out in an alley yesterday after a crab attacked me, and she hid me before the cops could get there. Cleaned me up and let me crash on her couch for the night, too. She wants to help."

"Absolutely not," Jeremy said shortly. "I'll have to do a return to the past, dammit. You know how big a risk those things are." He was already turning to the computer when Aelita stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on," she murmured quietly. Aelita stepped closer to Sissi, allowing the long scar running over her cheek down to her jaw to be visible. The girls made eye contact, Aelita strangely calm. "You want to help? How?"

Sissi took a breath to calm her nerves. "I live in town. I can help with your supply runs, and I can help with any medical emergencies you have. There isn't anyone in my life for me to tell your secrets to, so you don't have to worry about that. I just want to help you, this fight against XANA sounds important."

"More than you could possibly know," Aelita said. She stepped back to survey Sissi from head to toe. "Can you fight?"

William stepped in, raising a hand in protest. "Woah, we can't just start her in as a fighter."

"Why not?" Aelita asked. "We need all the help we can get. And if she's going to be useful, she needs to go into Lyoko at least once if she's going to remember anything."

"Lyoko, is that the world in the computer?" Sissi interjected. The others stared at her in surprise.

Jeremy groaned and rubbed his temples. "Ulrich, how much exactly did you tell her?"

"Enough." Ulrich crossed his arms stubbornly. "Jeremy, we need help. We're surviving, but we haven't made any real progress in months. Progress on the virus, the antidote, the diaries…"

"Will you shut up?" Jeremy hissed. "Are you trying to let her know everything?"

Odd laughed, breaking the tension. "Oh come on, Einstein. You're acting like she's a mole from the CIA."

"She could be, for all we know!" Jeremy gestured to Sissi wildly, his eyes manic behind his glasses. "Remember the last time we trusted someone to join us? Do you really want to lose another?"

Odd quieted immediately, stepping towards Jeremy with his fists already curled in anger. "Don't you dare bring her up."

Sissi looked between the two boys frantically, and found herself looking to Yumi. The girls shared a moment in which a sentiment of trust appeared to be exchanged. Yumi stepped towards Odd and put a calming hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him back. She spoke quietly into his ear, and Odd let out a breath, still glancing at Jeremy ferociously on occasion as Yumi continued to speak. Meanwhile, Aelita was doing the same to Jeremy, seeming to plead with him.

"You know we need her," she said quietly. "Even if she just goes on food runs. You're always saying how we can't afford to split up…she could be the answer to that. Another fighter, another pair of eyes and ears…"

"Another mouth to feed, another person to bed…" Jeremy hissed back.

"Excuse me," Sissi said loudly. "But I would like to propose something."

The room quieted as all attention focused on her. Sissi looked around at the scarred, broken warriors that surrounded her. The age in their eyes, the way their shoulders seemed constantly tensed. Clothes that had seen too much wear, and skin that hadn't seen enough sun. They gazed back with a mixture of emotions. Some guarded, some encouraging.

She drew in a slow breath before she spoke. "You don't trust me yet. I get that. But it's clear you need my help, even if you won't admit it. How about this – I'll keep living in my apartment, and working my job. I'll get food or supplies or whatever, whenever you need them. I want to help in any way I can, and if this is all you can trust me to do, that's fine. But please, don't turn me away."

The others shared a glance. Jeremy sighed in defeat. "All in favor of Sissi joining?"

Everyone raised their hands, including Jeremy. Aelita spoke up after him. "She will need to go to Lyoko, even if it's just to get her memories set up like ours. But we should also do some physical training with her, so she'll be ready in case of an attack."

Ulrich nodded. "I agree."

"I'll train with her," Yumi offered. She shot Sissi a sarcastic smile. "I'll be gentle, I promise."

Sissi grinned back with a challenging gleam in her eye. "Please, don't."

Odd laughed and clapped Sissi on the back. "Welcome to the gang!"

William patted her shoulder and spoke quietly into her ear. "I was the new kid once. It gets easier." She turned back to shoot him a grateful smile.

Jeremy continued to regard her with a shrewd, suspicious glare. Hopefully he would learn to trust her in time.

And he did. They all did. She was discreet in her supply runs, and fast. When XANA attacked and left Odd a bloody mess, she was there with medicine and bandages before they even called her. She had heard noises, she said. Most people thought it was a car crash somewhere in town, but she had known better. Her training went better than anyone expected. She joined the boys in their daily workouts, building strength and upgrading from five pound dumbbells to fifty pounds in barely two months.

Yumi taught her how to fight. Coworkers asked Sissi about the bruises she sported and she told them she was taking kickboxing lessons, which wasn't far from the truth. She and Yumi sparred almost daily, but one day Yumi just couldn't do it. An attack the day before, she said. No, she wasn't hurt, she said. She just couldn't fight today. Not today.

In time, Sissi began to realize that the fight against XANA, it was a war. A war being fought by individuals barely into their twenties, whose formative years had been shaped by constant vigilance and danger. William slept with a knife under his pillow. Aelita couldn't sleep alone. Jeremy didn't seem to sleep at all, constantly in the lab working.

And then, the day came. She went to Lyoko. She met the monsters and defeated them alongside the others. She explored Lyoko, and the worlds beyond it. The digital sea, towers, the inner workings of Jeremy's own creations, she saw it all. And she loved it. Yes, XANA was terrible, and yes, this war was violent and needed to end. But this digital world, it was beautiful. She kept her thoughts to herself though, knowing her opinion would not be appreciated by the others, who saw Lyoko as a punishment rather than a privilege.

One day, she stood out on the back deck with Ulrich. It was a sunny day, too nice to stay indoors, she had said. Ulrich looked out over the water stoically. He had never been one to smile too often, but now it was even rarer to see a grin split his face open. When a glimmer of happiness did reach him, it never seemed to reach his eyes. Unless he was looking at Yumi. Then he couldn't stop smiling if he tried.

Sissi perched on the railing, feeling the sun beat against her back. After spending all day in an air conditioned coffee shop, then coming here to hang out at night, it was nice to feel a bit of warmth. She took a breath.

"You know, I've been thinking…" she trailed off, uncertain of how to continue.

Ulrich looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"Well, I'm here every day now. Pretty much any time I'm not working or sleeping, I'm here. Can't really remember the last time I ate a meal in my apartment other than a quick breakfast here and there." She stared down at the concrete, already ashamed at her request.

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah, you basically live here, other than sleeping." The corner of his mouth lifted. A smile.

Sissi felt her head bob in a sort of nod in response. "Right. So I was thinking…maybe I should move in to the factory. My lease on the apartment is almost up, and I'm barely there anymore. I could live here but still keep working at the café to make money, which I could do considering I only go to Lyoko to fight when it's an absolute emergency. I just…I think it makes sense."

"No, I totally agree."

Her head shot up in surprise. "Wait, really?"

Ulrich nodded at her, furrowing his brow. "Yeah, a couple of us were talking about it the other day, how it really doesn't make sense for you to not live here at this point."

She grinned. "Really?"

He chuckled. "Yes, really. When does your lease end?"

"End of the week…but I could start getting moved in whenever."

"Cool." Ulrich straightened and stretched his arms behind his head. "You coming in?"

Sissi looked out to the water. "No, I think I'll stay out here for a bit." He nodded in response and headed inside, letting the broken double doors swing shut behind him. Sissi continued to gaze out at the water, letting her mind wander to reflect on these last few months. For the first time in years, she finally had friends to call her own. It had been lonely, these last years, having no one but herself to rely on.

And now, they relied on her. It felt good to help them. The fighting was hard but worth it, as the more she learned about XANA, the more determined she was to see his destruction. Every time she thought back to her days in school, and the strange behavior the others had exhibited…it all made sense. She regretted harassing them back then, now understanding what a hinderance she must have been. What an annoyance she was.

But things were different now. She understood their cause. She helped in every way she could. And soon, she would live here with the others in their home. Finally, she was a true Lyoko warrior.

"Hey, heard you're moving in!"

Sissi turned to see Odd leaning in the doorway with his trademark silly grin. She smiled. "Yeah, looks like it."

He came out to join her, already lighting a cigarette. "So, you looking forward to living in the factory?"

A peaceful silence came over Sissi as she observed the scene before her. A friend, joining her on the back deck of an abandoned factory, overlooking the river as they took a brief respite in the midst of a war with an evil artificial intelligence in a virtual world.

She smiled, looking up at the factory before her. "No place I'd rather be."

* * *

 **A happy ending? I'm tempted to have more one shots in this world that fill in the gaps of what went on in the last few years, though it would all be pretty violent. Lots of angst, but also just snapshots of life in the factory. Or I'll just do a bunch of drawings for fun. No one even reads these comments, I know. Hope you enjoyed the story.**


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